The “Dare to export” plan launches

As the French ministry of foreign affairs reminds, France registers today about 150.000 exporting companies, vs 125.000 in 2018. Since 2018 and the creation of Team France Export, a public scheme to support companies in foreign countries structured Business France, the Government “showed its capacity to support companies in exportations”.

An objective of 200,000 French export companies by 2030

Launched in 2018, Team France Export (TFE) is the new public service dedicated to the internationalisation of SMEs. Every year, 35,000 companies are supervised in their administrative processes to export thanks to TFE.

Ministry figures show that a company followed by Team France Export registers “an export revenue growing twice as fast, with longer and firmer foreign implementation”. The French minister in charge of foreign trade and attractiveness reminded during the launch of the “Osez l’export” (Dare to Export) programme its objective of 200,000 French export companies by 2030. With this plan offering reinforced resources and targeted actions, France provides material tools for SMEs “so that they can spread French creativity and know-how throughout the world”.

Three priorities and concrete measures

To better prepare and support French companies to help them succeed in their internationalisation, the “Osez l’export” shows three priorities divided in 13 measures, including:

• Invest in humans and local communities, with as concrete measure the creation of a “volontaire territorial de l’export” (exports territorial volunteer), a mechanism designed to help recruit a young person dedicated to exports, and the creation of “académie de l’export” (exports academy) to “train the entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow to the challenges of exports”;
• Helping France to win on the export market, with the flagship measure of setting up a “Pavillon France pour tous” (France stand for all), which will support 5,000 companies a year “at international trade fairs thanks to the State covering more of their costs”, and in particular the creation of a “France brand” to promote and strengthen the image of French products abroad;
• Preparing for the future, by proposing support measures: tailor-made export support for 1,000 SMEs supported by the France 2030 plan and by giving 200 SMEs with “strong export potential the benefit of intensive collective support, Booster, 60% of which is paid for by the State”.

France’s Economic partners

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has published an overview of France’s economic partners, of the top ten partners, which account for two-thirds of trade, eight are European countries, in addition to China and the United States. According to the Ministry, this geographical structure of trade is linked to several “traditional factors in the development of international trade, among which geographical proximity and the size of economies play an important role, but also to the European common market”.

In terms of exports, for which the official figure for 2023 currently stands at 52.4 billion euros, the top 10 countries to which France exports the most are: Germany, the United States, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, China, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Poland.

It should be noted that Germany remains both France’s leading customer and its leading supplier: its share of trade is almost twice that of the countries that follow it in the rankings.

Explore more

• Overall presentation of the “Osez l’export” plan
• The programme’s launch press release
• Team France Export website